


To Learn Is To Live

by starstruck1986



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-22
Updated: 2013-03-22
Packaged: 2017-12-06 03:56:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/731203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starstruck1986/pseuds/starstruck1986
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pairings: Remus/Severus, Remus/Ron/Severus, hinted to future Ron/OMC and past Ron/Hermione.<br/>Warnings/Content: Coming out fic, first time, self-hatred and self-dislike of homosexual tendencies, mentioned past suicide attempts and non-con/attempted rape, language, threesome, mentioned past infidelity.<br/>Summary: Their guest teaches them more than they could ever dream to learn, and the same goes for their guest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Severus, it'll just be a few days.”  
“A few days of another human in this godforsakenly small house. Potter has a big house. Why can't Weasley go and mend his metaphor there?”  
“God, you're mean.” Remus stared at Severus, who stood at the stove stirring a pot. He took a sip of wine and thought best how to convince his partner that he was being unnecessarily cruel.  
“Of course his beautiful, clever wife left him,” Severus burst out, gesticulating with his stirring spoon and causing a patter of tomato and garlic sauce to land on the floor. “Have you ever looked closely at Weasley? All those freckles. His nose is so... long.”  
  
Remus snorted into his glass of wine. “Really, are you one to talk or pass comment on others' noses?”  
  
Severus shot him a glare and said nothing.  
  
“Please. Our house isn't that small -there's a spare bedroom. It's not like he'll be camping out in the sitting room or in your potions lab, is it?”  
“But he'll still be _here_.”  
“And what's so wrong with that? You might even grow to like his presence -I've always found him to be very warm, funny and good to have around.”  
  
There was a loud bang as Severus dropped the spoon in the pan.  
  
“Do you find him attractive?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.  
“Oh, Godric, Severus, are you really going to go there?”  
“Answer me.”  
“No, I don't find him attractive. But he is the son of my friends, the best friend of my psuedo-godchild and I rather think he is my own friend, too. He needs some space and I would like to give it to him. Happy?”  
“Why are you being so nice?”  
“Because I'm a nice person, Severus.”  
  
There was an abrupt tut and then a sigh, and Severus turned back to the stove -Remus knew he had won. He sipped some more of his wine and nearly choked when he realised something.  
  
“You think Hermione Granger is beautiful?” He asked demandingly, sending his eyebrows into his hairline.  
“I don't... I didn't...” Severus fumbled for the words. “Shut up and get the cutlery out, Lupin.”  
“My word, the homosexual finds a woman attractive.”  
“I have experienced heterosexual attraction before, unlike yourself. You only take a liking to canines.”  
“Leave Sirius out of this. And no mentioning that when Ron's here. As far as that lot are concerned, there was never a relationship between Sirius and I.”  
“Why?”  
“Because... Sirius is dead. Why besmirch their memory of him?”  
“He did that all by himself, I wouldn't worry about it.”  
  
Remus tried to quash the burn of hate which shot through his chest; he loved Severus, but he would never get used to the man's contempt for his former lover and, if he was honest, his soul mate. Remus had often wondered how Severus would react on learning that he was not Remus' soul mate, but then Remus suspected that he wasn't Severus' either.  
  
“Remus, firecall the boy if you must. Invite him. But if he's still here at Christmas, there'll be trouble.”  
  
Nodding, Remus took a deep breath and tried to settle himself. When Severus passed him to get plates, they shared a brief, sweet kiss, before Remus headed to the sitting room to use the Floo.  
  
***  
  
“Ah, the stray is here,” Severus muttered, without looking up from The Prophet.  
  
Remus heard a page turning as he headed for the hallway to open the front door. He had been surprised by how readily Ronald Weasley had accepted their invitation to come and spend some time in their little home. Admittedly, their 'little home' was mostly idyllic, perched on the coast, normally drenched in sunshine, with a pleasant garden and cosy, attractive rooms. Only Severus' bitterness kept the guests from visiting.  
  
He twisted the lock and pulled on the door. Ron stood on the doorstep, clinging onto the strap of his rucksack and looking terribly thin and pale. Remus swallowed, steeling himself to speak when all he could think about was how awful Ron looked.  
  
“There you are. I had the kettle on half an hour ago.”  
“Sorry, Remus... My mum decided to turn up and give me a mouthful... you know what she's like.” Ron shifted his weight awkwardly between his feet and gave a grimacing grin.  
  
Remus laughed and stepped back to allow him into the house. Ron seemed to hesitate for a second before stepping over the threshold. When he did, he stood looking like he wanted to bolt.  
  
“Just leave your bag on the floor, hang your coat up. I'll show you where you're sleeping after a cup of tea and a pack of biscuits.”  
“You know me too well.” The ghost of a real grin flitted on Ron's face and Remus managed a real smile in return. “Thanks for having me, Remus... I really appreciate it.”  
“Oh, it's nothing. There's an empty room and Harry said that you could use the time away from... well, everything.”  
“Definitely right.”  
“I'm sorry to hear about you and Hermione,” Remus said, thinking that broaching the subject early was probably best.  
“Glad someone is,” Ron said. “Because I don't think either of us are.”  
“Oh?”  
“Amicable split, let's say? There was no chance of us staying together after...”  
  
Ron trailed off and Remus didn't press him. Instead, he led the way to the kitchen with a bracing smile on his face.  
  
“How do you take your tea?”  
“Milk, one sugar.”  
“Same as Severus, then. Get yourself sat down. Severus, Ron's here.”  
“So I see.”  
“Hi,” Ron said, clearly nervous, as he slid into the seat Remus himself had previously occupied. “How are you?”  
“As bad as anyone ever is at this hour,” Severus answered, not looking up from his paper. “Yourself, Weasley?”  
“M'okay.” Ron nodded. Remus wondered who he was trying to convince.  
“No need to lie, Weasley. Heartbreak has a felled a man stronger than yourself.”  
“Severus-”  
“I'm not heartbroken. Is that why you think I'm here?”  
“That's why Remus said you were here.”  
“Ron, please ignore him, he's always rude before midday-”  
“I'm here because I need to think about a few things and... figure out how I'm going to sort some stuff out. I need some space, is all. Don't think I'm here to use up all your tissues and eat you out of house and home to comfort me. I'm not here for that at all.”  
  
Remus stared at him and the colour which had sprung up into his cheeks.  
  
“Glad to hear it, Weasley.” Severus folded his paper up and put it on the table. He swigged down the last of his coffee and got to his feet. “I have to go into work this morning. I'll be back this afternoon.”  
  
Remus moved to follow him into the hallway so that they could say goodbye in private; Severus' move of kissing him softly on the cheek stunned him.  
  
“Bye then,” Remus said, bewildered. “Dinner out tonight, yes?”  
  
Severus' answer was the whoosh of the Floo. Remus looked out into the hallway for a moment before sighing and turning back to Ron, who was looking aimlessly out into the back garden, and at their sea view.  
  
“Sorry about Severus. It's not normally worth talking to him before his third coffee. He's often out of the house by then so I've learned to spend my mornings in silence.”  
“He hasn't changed, and neither have you.”  
“You have.” Remus smiled. “Seem to have got even taller, if that's possible.”  
“And skinnier, paler and uglier.” Ron smiled a mirthless smile which didn't reach his eyes.  
“Only two of those are true, and I didn't think you could get any paler or thinner, but there you sit.”  
“My mother tries to force feed me pies.”  
  
Remus laughed. “That sounds like your mum. How is she? I haven't seen her in a good few months. I should call on her.”  
“She'd like that... and maybe she'd offload some pies onto you.”  
“I remember her cooking very fondly... all would be welcome.”  
“Then go and see her, you know what she's like... she'd feed the bloody world if the bank balance would allow it.”  
  
Ron shifted awkwardly in his seat and rested his elbows on the table.  
  
“Sorry, I never made you your tea, did I?” Remus clucked at himself in disapproval. “That was Severus' fault, outwardly displaying affection. Threw me all off.”  
“This is his house.”  
“But there's a guest in it,” Remus said pointedly.  
“He doesn't want me here,” Ron guessed. His spine stiffened. “I'll go.”  
“You'll bloody sit there and drink my tea and eat my biscuits. Severus and I have discussed this; you are my guest, and therefore he will cope with your presence the best he can. I did the same for him not long ago. You are wanted here, Ron, for whatever you need to be here for -to cope, to heal, to clear your mind. Anything.”  
  
Ron opened his mouth as if to reply but then quickly closed it again. Remus didn't press him but moved back to the kettle to make them some tea.  
  
“Do you have a job I'm keeping you from?” Ron asked, his voice morose.  
“No... I... I did try, after the war. I managed to successfully hold a job for the first time in my life for about five years... but my transformations started taking a worse toll on me each month... and then Severus and I connected and well... here I stand, a kept werewolf, if you will. It drives me insane, but it's for my own good. And it's not reasonable to expect an employer to have to excuse an employee for what is often half a month due to illness. That's not fair on them.”  
“But the law now says they can't discriminate against you.”  
“Laws don't change deeply ingrained opinions, Ron.”  
“Which is why you live in the middle of nowhere, right?”  
“Severus has experienced his fair share of prejudice too. We're happy out here.”  
“It's nice,” Ron agreed, turning his eyes back to the sea again.  
“You should go for a walk this afternoon when you've settled in. The area is fantastic... but does look a bit like rain today.”  
  
Ron nodded and said nothing. Remus had to bite his tongue to keep from asking him what was wrong; he sensed that Ron was trying to escape being mothered –he didn't want to simply take Molly's place by just stepping in where she had left off.  
  
“I think I just want to sleep,” Ron murmured.  
  


* * *

  
  
“He hasn't said more than a few words since he got here,” Remus said worriedly, washing his face at the sink.  
  
Severus stared at Remus' back and hoped the man didn't expect an answer or a comment.  
  
“I'm trying not to coddle him but it's hard!” Remus announced, straightening up and gesturing with his hands. “He just looks so bloody forlorn and I want to feed him biscuits, give him a cuddle and let him cry on my shoulder.”  
“I doubt very much that Weasley wants to weep on your shoulder.”  
“I'm not so sure.”  
“This is why I didn't want you to invite him here, Remus, I knew he'd bring out your mother hen side and then you'd be unbearable.”  
“I'm not a mother hen, I just want him to know that he can talk to me.”  
“And I'm sure he does, if you're friends and he trusts you.”  
  
Severus smirked behind Remus' back. He knew that Remus was nowhere near being 'friends' with Ronald Weasley, and he'd had to hold his tongue when Remus had used that argument to get him to agree to Ron's visit. He'd saved it for the right moment –one which had just presented itself.  
  
“Oh, I knew you'd throw that back at me. C'mon, I'm done now. Bed.”  
  
Severus made sure to pull on the light cord as he stepped out onto the landing behind Remus.  
  
“Weasley's a grown man, Remus. He'll come to you if he needs some comfort or advice.”  
“I don't think he would though, something's wrong, I can feel it.”  
“You think you can feel a lot of things, and you're rarely right.”  
“I know when people are hurt, because it's written all over their face. Contrary to what you think, I'm good at reading people, Severus.”  
  
They passed the door behind which Ron was hidden and Severus lowered his voice to answer.  
  
“Just let him crack then. He will, if he's hurt enough. We all do.”  
  
Severus nearly walked smack bang into Remus' back as the werewolf stopped dead in the middle of the landing.  
  
“What the-”  
“Shh!” Remus hissed, turning with a frown on his face. “Can you hear that?” He mouthed.  
  
Severus frowned back in response and made to ask what exactly he was meant to be hearing when he heard it; the walls of their house, never particularly thick or soundproofed, could not hold back the soft snuffling, choking sound which was inevitably the sound of someone crying and trying to be quiet about it.  
  
“Silly boy, he's forgotten how to cast a silencing spell,” Severus muttered, and side-stepped Remus to head for their bedroom. He shouldered into the room and immediately began stripping off his clothes.  
  
Remus followed him in and closed the door. “How can you be so heartless?”  
“I'm not being heartless, Remus, I just think that you're overreacting. His marriage has just broken up. Of course he's upset, no matter what he says, and of course he's going to cry. The fact he came here probably means he wants some peace and quiet to do it in. Give him it, else he'll leave and then you'll get all maudlin and feel like a failure.”  
  
Severus threw back the duvet and reached for his pyjamas, which he quickly threw on to hold off the chill in the room. Remus was slower, idling as he undid the buttons of his shirt, looking worriedly at the wall as if he could see through it and therefore see Ron. Severus pulled the covers up over his body as he got into the bed, holding back a moan as the soft mattress cushioned his body. For some reason he felt shattered.  
  
“How can you sit there and know he's crying in the next room and not want to go to him?”  
“The same way I can sit there when you cry on the anniversary of Sirius' death and not come to you, only waiting for you to come to me. I believe in giving people space, Remus. Its something you've never been good at.”  
“Well, there have been times in our relationship that if I'd given you 'space', you wouldn't still be alive,” Remus shot acidly, his eyes set in a cold glare. “You conveniently seem to forget that all the time, Severus.”  
“I've never once asked you to step in, you made those decisions all by yourself, and you alone at times were grateful for the outcome. But that is the past, why do you insist on bringing it up at certain moments to hurt me?”  
“Severus, for God's sake, I'm not doing it to hurt you,” Remus breathed, kneeling onto the bed half-dressed. “I'm doing it to try and evoke some fucking humanity in you. Some emotion or care. Anything, to be honest. Sometimes it's like being in a relationship with a pillar of ice.”  
“Would you like me to have a personality transplant?” Severus demanded. “Swap with someone who likes puppies and hearts and flowers?”  
“No, then you wouldn't be you.”  
“And I wouldn't be me if I walked through the door to the spare room and let Ron Weasley sob all over my pyjamas. Drop it, Remus, and go to bed. The boy will be fine in the morning.”  
  
With that, Severus threw himself onto his back and then rolled over. He turned the light off without giving Remus further opportunity to speak. He tucked the duvet around him and firmly closed his eyes.  
  
***  
  
Severus made his way to the kitchen, blinking sleep out of his eyes after what had to have been the least refreshing night's sleep he had ever had. He was sure he'd gained more energy in the past by staying awake. He thought of the long day of work ahead of him and groaned. Coffee would be needed immediately. It surprised him to find the Muggle machine's pot already full and the smell of the kitchen infused with the heady roast of their choice. A breeze around his ankles confused him further, and then he spotted Ron standing in the back doorway, leaning against the frame, looking out to sea. Severus bit down a comment about a melancholic stereotype and instead made for the coffee, determined to have a good few sips before he had to make conversation. He had poured, drank and seated himself down at the kitchen table before Ron even acknowledged that he was there.  
  
“Morning. I didn't wake you up, did I?” Ron turned to face him.  
“I didn't really sleep.”  
“Neither did I.”  
“I can tell,” Severus said dryly, looking at the pallor of the boy's skin and the deep purple circles beneath his eyes, which were red and puffy. “I'm not going to pretend I'm good at conversation at this unholy hour, Weasley, so pour yourself some coffee, sit down, and let me tell you something.”  
  
Ron frowned slightly but obeyed Severus' instructions; his chair scraped as he pulled it back over the floor and Severus winced at the sound. Ron looked at him expectantly.  
  
“We heard you crying last night.”  
“Fuck,” Ron muttered, dropping his eyes to his mug.  
“Remus was ready to break down the door and mother you to within an inch of your sanity. I stopped him, but who knows if I'll manage it next time.”  
“There won't be a next time,” Ron said firmly. “I'll make sure of it.”  
“Or at least put up some spells to keep the sound in, hmm?”  
  
Ron let out a bitter laugh and drank some coffee. Awkward silence stretched between them.  
  
“Remus is extremely worried about you. It's in his nature to worry even when there is nothing to worry about, but I'm not entirely convinced he's in the wrong about you, Ron. I just wanted to say that if something is eating at you, Remus Lupin will drag it from you, be it kicking and screaming. You will tell him. It's an inevitability. If you don't want to, leave.”  
“Do you want me to leave?”  
“That's not what I said.”  
“But it's what's written on your face.”  
  
Severus shook his head and looked out of the back window. “I don't particularly enjoy having past students in their pyjamas in my kitchen,” he commented. “But that's not personal, it's everyone. Including Remus, most mornings. I enjoy my privacy.”  
“Remus invited me here... but I'll go if you don't want me here.”  
“Do you really think I'm foolish enough to tell a young man wearing the sort of look that you're wearing that he's not wanted anywhere? Do you think I was born yesterday, Weasley?”  
  
Ron flushed and looked away.  
  
“Why did your marriage with Granger break up?” Severus asked bluntly, throwing caution to the wind.  
“Because I couldn't love her any more.”  
“Why not?”  
“Because she didn't have a cock, that's why not.” Ron's face was aflame with either anger or shame –Severus couldn't tell which.  
“You mean, you're...”  
“Gay. Homosexual. Shirt-lifter. Raging poof. Woolly-woofter. The whole fucking lot.”  
“And... is this a recent discovery?”  
“A couple of years... I tried to hold it in. Tried to deny that I was looking at men and fancying them... but it didn't work. And then I tried to experiment, and it went wrong.”  
“How so?”  
  
Ron jerked his head irritably and said nothing; Severus knew he had pushed too far.  
  
“Okay. I understand you don't want to talk about it. I respect that. Your business is your own. But might I ask one more question?” At a nod from Ron he went on. “If you tried to repress your sexuality and are clearly still uncomfortable with it, why did you accept the invitation into the home of two gay men in an established relationship?”  
“That should be obvious.” Ron frowned. “I wanted to see... I wanted to see if it could be real. Like a man and a woman live.” He blushed harder. “I wanted to see that men can love each other.”  
“Then you probably should have picked a more romantic case study,” Severus advised, and got to his feet. “I won't tell Remus what you have told me.”  
“Thanks... I didn't want to tell either of you...”  
“But it's bursting to get out of you.”  
  
Ron met his eyes with an expression of dismay.  
  
“I was a teacher for so many years, Ron. Do you really think you are the first young man to come out to me? To look so torn up inside? To hate himself so much for what he's feeling? That, considering my history and my current situation, that I might not have experienced it myself?”  
  
Ron merely stared.  
  
“The mistake of all young men is to believe they are alone,” Severus said. “Excuse me. I need a wash before work.”  
  


* * *

  
  
“Shut up,” Ron moaned, scrubbing his fingers over his face.  
  
He was sick of the thoughts in his head and he was sick of agonising over every last one of them. He was shattered, physically and mentally, because of everything which kept on tearing through him whenever he closed his eyes or drew breath. For many people, he assumed, realising they were gay was not an issue. Perhaps there was some awkwardness in telling the family, but then it was normal.  
  
His discovery had broken up a marriage and caused a lot of pain, and not only to his ex-wife, who Ron found he still loved dearly. That he could no longer appreciate her physically was something that was eating him from the inside out, but nothing he did worked. No matter how slutty the porn or how filthy they were in the bedroom, he still found the boy in the post room at the Ministry more attractive than his wife.  
  
Ron swallowed as he thought about the day that he had slipped into the post room and kissed the boy before either of them could speak, and instead of pushing him away, as the teenager should have done, he had kissed back with a vigour that had shaken Ron to his very core. He couldn't block the memories no matter how hard he tried to -he still felt the smooth skin beneath his fingertips and lips, and could still taste the nineteen-year-old like the kiss had only just happened. His cock twitched at the thought.  
  
“Fuck you,” he swore at himself, turning his anger and pain inward.  
  
“You shouldn't talk to yourself, you know,” Remus said from behind him, and Ron jumped. “The first sign of madness, and all.”  
“I'm long gone anyway.” Ron managed a laugh and turned to look back at the sea.  
  
He was sitting on the edge of the raised decking leading down to the small garden, which backed on to the beach. He was cold and fighting the shivers, but nothing he could think would make him get up and go back inside the house.  
  
“Thought you could probably use this,” Remus said, handing him a cup of tea. The werewolf seated himself next to Ron and Ron didn't complain. He sipped at his tea and let it warm his gullet as he swallowed. “How are you today? Haven't seen you all morning.”  
“I went back to bed.” Ron cleared his throat and tried not to think about his conversation with Snape that morning. “And then I've been out here ever since.”  
“Nice to just sit and watch the world go by sometimes, isn't it?” Remus drank from his own mug and said nothing more.  
  
Ron listened to the sound of the waves pushing and pulling against the shore and to the seagulls squawking overhead. Usually the sounds would have soothed him, but they were failing to provide him with any comfort at all.  
  
“An owl came for you earlier. I put the letter on the kitchen table.”  
“Thanks.”  
“Expecting something?” Remus asked airily, clearly trying not to pry but failing.  
“Probably another letter from my mother begging me to go back to Hermione. Hermione wouldn't have me. I've told Mum that, but she won't listen.”  
“Would you like me to go and talk to her?” Remus offered. “We always got on quite well...”  
“God, no... she'd hate that. Its our business. We'll sort it out eventually... just rough in the mean time, you know?”  
“Does she know why your relationship ended?”  
“That's what I'm trying to work up the nerve to tell her. Somehow, I can never get there, even if I want to.”  
“What about putting it in a letter?” Remus suggested.  
  
Ron looked at the grass under his trainers.  
  
“I'd not thought of that. But she'd hate it... that one of her sons couldn't say something aloud to her so he put it in a poxy letter.”  
“That depends what he needed to say. She might understand your hesitance if she knew the reason.”  
  
Ron sucked in a deep lungful of sea air and thought about what to say. Remus was needling away at him, like Severus had said he would, and Ron wondered whether it was worth putting the man through the effort when Ron could just tell him.  
  
“I'm gay,” he blurted.  
“I see. And that's why your marriage with Hermione broke up?”  
“Couldn't hide it from her any more.”  
“I think you did a noble thing. Many gay men live their lives in secret and never enlighten their wives, and their lives are hellish, and in turn, so are the lives of the wives. You've done the right thing for both of you.”  
“I don't think I have.” Ron laughed bitterly and shook his head. “Everything I knew is gone. No proper roof over my head, no security. Nobody there when I come home at night. I hate it. I hate being alone.”  
“Then you should see if you can find someone to spend some time with... who wants the same from you. Then you won't be alone.”  
“I'm not ready for that.” Ron swallowed. “The thought of being with another man... it makes me feel kind of sick. I'm not... I've never...”  
  
Remus' gentle touch to his forearm made Ron jump. The hand remained there, heat transferring through the wool of Ron's jumper.


	2. Chapter 2

“It's okay. You don't need to be embarrassed. You've never properly been with a man sexually?”  
  
Ron shook his head, mortified.  
  
“Why did you come here, Ron?” Remus asked the same question as Severus had.  
“Because you two were the only ones I could think of... the only ones who live together, who have a real relationship... I wanted to see how it works.”  
“Severus and I do not have a normal relationship.” It was Remus' turn to laugh bitterly. “We exist in a continual fight, I think. I love him far too much and he loves me just enough. It's a difficult life to live, when your partner loves you less than you love them.”  
  
Unsure of what to say, Ron stuck with saying nothing. He waited for Remus to continue.  
  
“Some days I think we're simply kidding ourselves... stuck in a relationship which we keep on at purely to say we've got it, and that we have the other.”  
“But you still love each other,” Ron pointed out.  
“Sometimes, I wonder about that. I wonder if Severus is just here because there is nowhere else for him to  
really go... nobody else who would have him. I saved him from himself and I think he sticks around in case he ever needs me to do it again.”  
“How d'you mean, saved him from himself?”  
“At the beginning... after the war... Severus wasn't well. He was depressed and had a succession of suicide attempts. I happened to find him after the first. I damn well made sure I was there for the others... he never thanked me. I think he hated me for saving him. I think he wanted to die. Sometimes I think that if I wasn't here to put food in his mouth he wouldn't eat, he'd just waste away. He'd kill me if he knew I was telling you this.”  
“I won't tell anyone,” Ron promised, wondering why he wasn't more shocked to hear the pained words tumbling out of Remus' mouth.  
“I know you won't.” Remus gave his arm a pat. “Same as why nothing you say here will be spread by either of us.”  
“Why did he try to kill himself?”  
“Because the weight of the wizarding world had rested on his shoulders for so long he had never taken the time to deal with his grief and his anger surrounding the whole situation. After the war, when he had time to think and breathe... the first time in years, it drove him mad. It drove him down into the dark and I don't think he's ever quite come back up out of it.”  
“But he hasn't tried recently, has he?”  
“No. Not for three years. I hope every day that we don't return to those dark times.” Remus looked away.  
“I had no idea.”  
“What goes on behind closed doors and all that...”  
  
Ron nodded and looked out at the sea.  
  
“I don't know what to do,” he confessed.  
  
Everything he had said was completely against what he had envisaged for his visit. He had thought he'd spend several days in silence, mulling things over in his head, and neither of his hosts would have to know what he was thinking or why he was there. In one day he had blown that completely, telling both of the men that he was gay.  
  
 _Idiot._  
  
“One day, Ron, you will find a man who moves you like no other, and whom you love more than your entire family, and that you would move heaven and earth for. I have faith in that.”  
“But you haven't found it,” Ron said, unable to hold his bitter reply in.  
“My sun and moon died when you were sixteen, Ron. He's long gone. I adored him.”  
  
Ron hurt his neck turning to stare. “Sirius?”  
“It was meant to be a secret from you all... Harry was so young and so unstable... coping so well and falling apart at the same time... It didn't seem right to tell him before and after Sirius' death... I just didn't see how it would have helped anything. The rest of the Order knew, but we forbade them from saying anything.”  
“We wouldn't have cared. Harry worried about both of you. He would have found it better to know you were together.”  
“Well... then we misjudged him. But it was not something we were willing to risk. We conducted our relationship in secret.”  
“What about before he went to prison?”  
“We were in love... we lived together.”  
“That must have been hell.”  
“I didn't know if he'd done it or not, truth be told. He loved James and Lily like they were his own blood. I was his soul mate, they were his family. I never knew whether he had it in him to murder Peter... and part of me believed that if he _had_ done it, that there was some reason I would never know about... that he knew something that I didn't. Peter had never truly been one of us and it was easier for me to distrust him rather than Sirius. I confess, I still loved him as a murderer.”  
“Fuck,” Ron breathed, lost for words.  
  
“Gay men can love as passionately as any heterosexual couple, Ron. We have the same dramas, the same arguments, the same honeymoon period where all we do is have sex. It's all the same, just different body parts, I promise you.”  
“Why are you with Severus if you don't think he loves you?”  
“Because there is nobody else for me.”  
“But he always hated you. He outed you as a werewolf.” Ron felt himself growing angry with the absent Slytherin.  
“Severus loathed Sirius and always will, Ron. How do you feel about Draco Malfoy, even now?”  
“I hate his fucking guts,” Ron said, without hesitation.  
“Well then. There you have the basis of the relationship between Severus and Sirius. Sirius always used Severus' appearance and -I'm sure, when we were all out of earshot- his half-blood against him.”  
“But you're half-blood, aren't you?”  
  
Remus smiled. “Severus is not the best with consistency. And I suppose he must have mellowed with age.”  
“It must be hard for you to be with him knowing he hates your soul mate.”  
“Sometimes,” Remus confirmed.  
“I don't think I'll ever find mine.” Ron knew he sounded pathetic, but was unable to keep his opinion in.  
  
Remus' arm was warm and heavy as it came to rest around his shoulders, Ron found. He leant into the touch and enjoyed it, having been sat shivering in the cold for so long.  
  
“You're freezing!” Remus proclaimed, and pulled Ron into his side.  
  
Ron was startled by the action but allowed it, because it felt warm and comfortable. Remus smelt of soap and something masculine.  
  
“Do you think being here is helping?” Remus asked quietly.  
“Yes.”  
  
Ron didn't know if it was the truth, but it felt like it as he said it.  
  
***  
  
Ron looked up across the living room as he heard a disapproving grunt. Severus was throwing Remus a dirty look for tucking his feet beneath his legs, presumably because they were cold. Remus threw the man a cheeky grin back and Severus' face remained impassive for a moment, before giving way to a begrudging half-smile. Remus settled back down with the paper and Severus turned the page in the book he was reading.  
  
They looked happy.  
  
Ron didn't understand how any of what Remus had told him that afternoon could be true when they looked so content together, and seemed to gravitate around each other effortlessly. It made him feel ill to watch.  
  
“I think I'm going to go to bed,” he said quietly, easing up out of the armchair he'd been folded into since dinner.  
“Night,” Severus said, not looking up from his text.  
“You look a little pale, are you all right?” Remus asked, concern bleeding through his tone.  
“Of course he's not all right,” Severus intoned. “He's going to bed at half past eight.”  
  
Ron blushed. He hadn't realised the hour was so early.  
  
“I'm sorry,” he said finally. “I just... I find it hard to sit here and watch you two... when...”  
“Isn't that what you came here to see?” Severus asked, finally looking at him. “Two men living together happily?”  
“It would be fine, if you were happy.” Ron shook his head, knowing he was digging himself into a hole. “But you're not, are you?”  
  
Severus assessed him for a long time and then said, “Perhaps not to your expectations, no. But I am very happy with Remus. I love him, no matter what he might have told you to the contrary.”  
  
It was Remus' turn to colour in the face and Ron looked down at his feet.  
  
“You need to understand one thing about love, Weasley,” Severus said matter-of-factly, as he got to his feet. “It is neither perfect nor explicable. It rarely makes sense and it is never without fault or incident.”  
“I wouldn't know, I've never been in love.”  
  
The admission made Ron's heart sink -to say aloud that he had never loved his wife in a way that a lover should love their lover made him feel like a complete failure.  
  
“Fuck, I hate this,” he breathed. “I just want to be normal.”  
“You are normal,” Severus assured him. “You're frightened to death and you don't know how to handle what you're feeling. That's perfectly normal, Weasley.”  
“But wanting to snog other blokes isn't.”  
  
Ron turned to leave and was surprised when tight fingers encircled his wrist and pulled him to a stand-still. Severus was suddenly far too close, and then, to Ron's horror, they were lip-to-lip, kissing. He opened his mouth to protest and Severus merely deepened the kiss, reaching up to cup his jaw. That move undid Ron and made him sag, open to any advances that his old professor wanted to give.  
  
By the time the man pulled away, they were both panting and a steady throb of blood was pounding in Ron's lips.  
  
“You cannot tell me that that didn't feel normal, Weasley. That it didn't feel good. And if it felt good and not normal, then why on earth should you give a damn? Your life is what you make of it. If you want to kiss other men then damn well kiss other men. You will waste your life lamenting your body's choices if you don't accept that soon. Do you understand me?”  
“You kissed me,” Ron said dumbly, reaching up to touch at his lips, which were slightly damp.  
  
What he didn't want to say was that the kiss had electrified him more than kissing the post room boy had ever done: Severus Snape knew what he was doing, and Ron assumed that was what made the difference. It was only then that he remembered Remus sitting on the sofa, watching. Ron was suddenly horrified.  
  
“That was beautiful,” Remus said softly. “Would you do it again, Severus, if I asked?”  
“That's not my call,” Severus said, staring at Ron. “I would willingly... but I don't think that he wants that. I think he wants to run.”  
“I don't want to run,” Ron heard himself spit childishly. “Kiss me again.”  
  
Severus didn't wait to be told a second time before delivering, and that time he looped his arms around Ron's waist and yanked him, hard, so that they stood chest to chest and lip to lip. The kiss was harder and less graceful. Ron dropped his jaw and opened up his mouth to the other man. He felt his fingers clawing at Severus' back.  
  
The older man shifted against him and, to Ron's horror, pressed a column of stiff cock into his groin -where it met Ron's own. He hadn't realised his body's reaction to the kiss and pulled away, head spinning, unsure of what to do. When Severus' long fingers reached down and palmed his crotch through his jeans, Ron thought his heart might just give out.  
  
“Your body is telling you something you can't deny,” Severus said simply. “If someone as unattractive as myself can provoke this reaction out of you, imagine what might come of a relationship with a man that you are wildly in love with...”  
  
Severus raised his eyebrows expectantly and all Ron could do was stand there and dumbly breathe, loudly, through his mouth. He couldn't think or speak; all he knew was that Severus' hand still remained pressing into his cock and balls, and it was the best thing he had ever felt. No woman had ever felt so good against him. Not even the post boy had been so wonderful.  
  
He jumped when Remus was suddenly beside him. The comforting arm returned to rest around his shoulders, pulling him close into Remus' body.  
  
“Severus is right, Ron.”  
  
Ron was grateful as Remus dropped one hand to gently pry Severus' away from his crotch. Their fingers laced together.  
  
“I know he is,” he mumbled finally. “But... I don't know what to do with it. Who'd have me? I don't even know where to start looking and... before... when I tried before... it went... it went wrong, really wrong.”  
“You mentioned something about that before,” Severus said. “Tell us... if you are comfortable doing so, of course.”  
  
Ron felt his throat thicken, as it always did when he thought about what had happened the night when he had first gone searching for something he thought he wanted. He had always loathed being proved wrong, and that night had been the mother of all lessons.  
  
“It was... we'd only been married a year. Ages ago... I felt attracted to men and didn't know what to do with it... so... I looked up this place. It was this club where men could go... and I got drunk one night and went. This bloke came on to me pretty much immediately... and it was okay at first. He was buying me drinks, and stroking my arm... and then he kissed me, and it was great. He asked me if I wanted more and I was drunk, so I said yes, and he pulled me into the toilets and...” Ron paused to take breath and found himself shuddering instead. “He wanted to fuck me, and as soon as he said it, I knew I didn't want that, not with him. I didn't know him from fucking Adam... but... he wouldn't stop, and...”  
“And?” Severus demanded, his voice filled with a fury that Ron didn't think he had heard since he was at school being taught by the man.  
“And he was saying all this stuff, like I couldn't lead a man on and then not give him anything... and that I was just being silly...”  
“And then what happened?” Remus asked, more softly, his mouth close to Ron's ear.  
“And he got as far as sticking one f-finger up me before my magic took over and he hit the wall and got knocked out.”  
  
Ron closed his eyes and tried to will away the ever-tightening thickness in his throat. There was something about the two men who made him prone to spilling secrets he had sworn he would never tell anybody. He hated himself for his lack of control.  
  
“If I could find him, I would wring his neck,” Severus said simply, his tone dangerous.  
“There aren't words,” Remus whispered to Ron. “I'm sorry that he was your first experience. I'm sorry, Ron.”  
  
Ron didn't move as Remus seemed to nuzzle against the side of his face in apology. He wondered if it was the werewolf's animal side coming through to his human form; it was such a canine movement. Ron found that he liked it.  
  
Without really thinking, he turned his head to one side and pressed a kiss to the only part of Remus that he could reach -his hair. Remus was shorter than both he and Severus. It felt so natural that only afterwards did Ron feel the shock, and he glanced at Severus, horrified that he might be met with rejection borne from possession.  
  
“I think you should go to bed,” Severus said, his voice much kinder than it had been all evening. “Otherwise I think you stand to end up in as much of a bad situation as you were in the toilet.”  
“Why?”  
“Because both of us are here, knowing you're hurting, and we both want to show you that gay sex is loving and beautiful and make you feel like you've never felt before,” Remus answered. “You're falling and all either of us wants to do is pick you up and set you on your feet again.”  
“Both of you?” Ron clarified, looking pointedly at Severus.  
  
A curt nod was all he received. Severus' face was otherwise impassive, all traces of anger and emotion gone.  
  
“Then do it,” Ron whispered.  
“No.” Severus shook his head. “You said you wanted it once before and you ended up traumatised.”  
“But you two would stop if I asked you. I know you would.”  
  
Severus seemed to deflate then. Remus said nothing but clutched Ron a little harder.  
  
“Come to bed with us,” Remus said finally. “And if nothing happens, then nothing happens, but at least you'll know what it feels like to lie in a bed with another man, smell him, and feel his warmth against you.”  
  
Ron nodded, but he couldn't help feeling disappointed. He wanted more, but he knew what he was asking of them. They were in relationship and there was no place for him in the middle of it. They had enough issues without him adding to them. It was on the tip of his tongue to say 'no thank you' and that he would sleep in the guest room, when Remus walked to the door and pulled Ron with him.  
  
“I'll just lock everything up,” Severus advised, not following.  
  
“Remus-” Ron began, but was cut off.  
“Ron... please... don't worry. Just don't worry. Whatever this evening does to Severus and myself is our burden to bear... but I'm not entirely sure that it will be a bad thing. Something has to give. Good or bad, we will cope with it. Right now, all I want to do is make sure that you feel safe and loved. Let me, please?”  
  
It was hard to say no to the man's begging eyes. They were like direct mirrors to his soul, which Ron could see was more than a bit battered and aching to help.  
  
“Okay,” he breathed, with a nod. “Okay. I want it. I want it,” he confessed on repeat.  
  
Remus led him by the hand into the bedroom he shared with Severus and didn't bother to put the lights on. He quickly stripped off his clothes down to his underwear and then turned to Ron, making deft use of his fingers to reduce him to the same state with no hint of hurriedness or desire; Ron only felt care.  
  
He felt nothing as his body was bared to the room. He spared a thought for being grateful for having changed his pants that morning. Remus smiled at him, but only looked at his face, and Ron couldn't remember the last time anybody had treated him so respectfully. He went when Remus guided him to the middle of the bed, enjoying the feel of the soft sheets beneath his back and the heavy duvet as it layered over him. Remus lay next to him, turned into his body, and Ron swallowed when calloused fingers came up to stroke at his chest hair.  
  
“How do you feel”? Remus whispered, leaning close.  
“Great,” Ron answered lamely, but truthfully. He wanted to lean close and kiss Remus' lips. He did so and Remus accepted him, keeping the kiss firm but not demanding.  
  
They kissed for what felt like minutes and Ron felt blood surging to his cock again, which had wilted in the time it took to get from sitting room to bedroom. He had been so lost in it that it was a surprise when the duvet lifted and another body slipped in next to him -Severus must have been in the room, getting undressed, and neither of them had noticed.  
  
“Everything sorted?” Remus murmured.  
  
Severus hummed in response and Ron held his breath as the man's long fingers settled on his belly, stroking the hair there to match Remus' stroking further north.  
  
“Remember to breathe,” the Slytherin advised, before capturing Ron's mouth with his own; their tongues met and Ron hated the little squeak of pleasure that he let out.  
  
His bed mates seemed to like it, however, and both shifted closer, trapping him between their bodies. Almost simultaneously, they hooked a leg each over his own, parting them, and pinning him down to the bed. Ron waited for the fear of the situation and the hatred of himself to come crashing down on his head, but all he could feel was excitement, and desire burning in his stomach and groin.  
  
“May I touch you?” Severus whispered, directly into his ear; his breath tickled and Ron squirmed, pressing his hips up into the air.  
“Yes!” he gasped.  
  
He was sure he would never forget the slow way that Severus' fingertips crept beyond the elastic of his boxer shorts. He was even more sure that he would never forget the way it felt when those fingertips caressed his cock for the first time. Severus picked it up, curling his hand around it like it was made to fit, and then squeezed. Ron could have come then and there. He lost himself as the hand began to pump up and down on his shaft, and then, when there was suddenly extra pressure, and he realised that Remus' hand had joined Severus', and they were wanking him together, he moaned so loudly that he made himself jump.  
  
Remus chuckled at him before kissing his shoulder. Severus captured his mouth again, kissing him with more vigour than before. Ron was only just able to keep breathing, though his head was swimming and there was no stopping the moans which kept pouring out of his throat. Remus' hand drifted downwards to fondle his sac, and Ron arched his spine. Severus sped up with the pumping motion and Remus gently cupped and massaged his bollocks.  
  
It was too much, and he pulled away from Severus' mouth to warn them, to point out that he was about to come all over their hands and their bed sheets and to stop, but nothing ever made it past his lips. He was too seized by the pleasure rippling through his crotch and spreading out through his belly and his thighs. He wanted to feel it forever.  
  
“C-coming!” he gasped, throwing his head back, arching his body, and spilling, hard, to their touches.  
  
Severus said something to him but Ron had no idea what it was. The room seemed alive with colour and his every breath deafened him. His cock was still releasing seed in hard pulls from the depths of his sac.  
  
He bit hard into his lip to keep back a sob of pleasure.  
  


* * *

  
  
“Morning, you,” Remus whispered, wrapping his arms around Severus from behind. He kissed the man's shoulder and held onto him tightly.  
“Morning,” Severus said, his voice soft and sleep-ridden. “I woke you up.”  
“No... Ron's snoring managed that.”  
“He sounds like a fog horn,” Severus breathed, obviously relieved to have not been the only one disturbed by their guest's nasal talents.  
“The sleep of someone finally at peace, I hope,” Remus mused, looking past Severus out to the beach, which was drenched in an orange glow from the sunrise.  
“Remus, I don't want this to change anything.”  
  
Severus turned and met his eye. “I love you. And from what Ron said yesterday it appears that you might not know that.”  
“I know that you love me,” Remus insisted. “I do... I just often feel that you might not feel for me in the way that I feel for you. And that's hard to cope with.”  
“I must seem like the coldest person on earth after what you were used to.”  
  
Remus watched with rising alarm as Severus' eyes lowered shamefully to the floor between them.  
  
“I know I am a difficult man to live with,” Severus went on, his voice becoming even throatier, a sure sign of his upset. “And I am very sorry for everything I have ever put you through. But Remus... don't ever doubt that I love you.”  
“I never said that I thought you didn't love me, just that I felt more for you than you did for me...”  
“You said that I'm only here so that you can save me again should the need arise.”  
“How on earth did you know-... oh, Severus. You didn't?”  
  
It was one of the few rare times that Remus had ever been granted the pleasure of seeing Severus Snape blush.  
  
“I couldn't help myself... it started because I was afraid that the boy would wake up and feel horrified by what he had done and do something stupid, or immediately resent himself. I needed to know what he was thinking. I thought it would help me sleep.”  
“Did it?” Remus asked, unable to keep the amusement from his tone.  
“No, because all he seemed to be thinking about was us... he was worried about you. And me. He was worried that he might have ruined our relationship.”  
“And why did that give you a sleepless night?”  
“Because I was worried that I had done that long before Ronald Weasley ever ended up in our spare room,” Severus said glumly. “Remus... I am still here, not because of you, but for you. Do you not think that if I hadn't come to love you as much as I do, then there would have been no end to my suicide attempts until one of them actually succeeded?”  
“I...” Remus swallowed.  
“I fell in love with the man who saved me, when he had every reason to let me rot where I lie. Don't ever think that I don't love you, Remus, because you are doing me a great disservice. I can love. For God's sake, the ability to be compassionate and love is one of the only things I have ever actually been able to do with any vigour. Not without fault, I know, but still...”  
  
Remus didn't particularly know what to say as he took Severus into his arms and held him in the tightest embrace he could remember sharing in a long time. He kissed the man's cheek and stuffed his face in his throat. He inhaled the scent of herbs and tea and let them calm his blood.  
  
“I'm sorry,” he whispered. “We'd just been... trapped in the mire for so long...”  
“You don't have to explain yourself. Just promise me, next time, that you will ask me before pouring your heart out to somebody else.”  
“I will.” Remus squeezed his eyes shut, trying to banish the tears which had begun to build there. A few escaped and dampened the skin beneath his eyes.  
“I think we should go away together for a while. A change of scenery. I think it will do us both the world of good, don't you?”  
“I'd love that,” Remus said, pulling back. “Somewhere different, between the moons so I'm well.”  
  
Severus graced him with a rare smile and Remus returned it, happiness soaring through him.  
  
“I wonder if he's stopped snoring yet, I could do with another few hours... I'm not going into work today, I've decided.”  
“Who are you, and where's Severus?” Remus demanded playfully.  
“He seems to have been woken up well and truly by the redheaded guest who appears to have turned everything upside down, including his own life.”  
“Do you think he'll be okay?”  
“He'll find his way, Remus. We all do eventually.”  
“I don't want to let him walk out of here when he might just dip back down and hate himself for everything.”  
“He can stay as long as he wants, Remus. He can share our bed if he likes. But know that nothing will ever change the way I feel about you, or what we have -except to make me more grateful for you and it.”  
  
There was a cough from the doorway behind them, and Remus was surprised to find Ron standing there, fully dressed with a packed rucksack at his feet.  
  
“Ron-”  
“No, don't get the wrong idea.” Ron held his hand up to stop Remus in his tracks. “I'm not upset, or distressed, or traumatised. I feel fucking _great._ I'm going because... I'm going because I need to face up to some people that I've been avoiding. My mum, Harry. They need to know the truth because I know they're doubting Hermione, and this isn't her fault. She deserves to have them know the truth. And I can't cope with the secret any more.”  
“You're sure?” Severus asked. “You're welcome to stay as long as you like. But I think you heard that.”  
“I might be back.” Ron shrugged. “It might all fall to shit, but I really hope it doesn't.”  
  
Remus pulled away from Severus to go and give Ron a parting hug, but he boy picked up his rucksack and shrugged it onto his back.  
  
“Thank you,” Ron said, with big, earnest eyes. “Thank you, for what you did. I'm pretty sure I'll never forget that. It means a lot to me and...” His expression turned shy. “...And you are both beautiful.”  
  
He gripped one strap of his rucksack hard and then nodded, obviously finished. He turned and headed down the hallway. The front door opened and closed. Remus held his breath.  
  
“Did you want him to stay?” Severus whispered, wrapping his arms around Remus from behind. “To play mother for a few more days? Or to have the chance to fuck him?”  
“Severus!”  
“There's nothing wrong with it. You found him attractive and admitted it. You could have had your fun.”  
“I think I'm going to have plenty of fun with you,” Remus said decisively, leaning back against Severus' slim but strong frame.  
  


* * *

  
  
Severus wasn't sure, but he thought he caught a glimpse of red hair up ahead. He lengthened his strides to see whether he was right. Of course, there were plenty of redheads in the world, but for some reason he felt compelled to see if it was Ron and if he was okay. They hadn't heard from him in over two months, apart from a note the week after his visit thanking them once again and promising that he was fine, and growing happier by the day. Finally, the man ahead stopped for a moment, fighting with something in his pocket, and his face turned.  
  
“Ron?” Severus called out, causing the man to look up, and a smile blossomed on his freckled face.  
“Hi!” Ron greeted him, turning him to face him. “How are you?”  
“Never mind that, how are you? Remus is at the point of stalking you. He's worried.”  
  
Ron laughed and rubbed at his nose. “I've been meaning to come round but... I was a bit... I didn't know whether you'd want to see me.”  
“Weasley, you really are quite dim, do you know that?”  
“I've been told.” Ron grinned and looked away. “Do you want to get a drink or something? Do you have somewhere to be?”  
“Do you realise how absolutely uncharacteristic it is of me to say yes to having a drink with you?” Severus asked.  
“Are you a changed man, Snape?”  
  
It was his turn to laugh and he and Ron began to walk together to a café on the side of Diagon Alley. He waited until they had ordered their drinks and had sat down before he spoke again.  
  
“Perhaps I am changed. Remus certainly seems happier these days.”  
“I'm glad to hear it.” Ron grinned and fiddled with a balled up receipt which had been left on their table.  
“What about you?” Severus asked again. “We've both thought of you, a lot... and I think we both wished you had spent some more time with us, after...”  
“After I walked into your lives, caused a massive drama and then waltzed back out again?” Ron asked.  
  
Severus snorted and gave a nod.  
  
“I'm okay. I'm still not... entirely, okay, with what I am... Some days I wake up and think 'fuck, this would all be easier if you were straight and liked tits.' But then others its okay. I'm happy to perve on the post boys at work and to be able to appreciate a man when he walks past.”  
“So you don't have a partner or anyone yet?”  
  
Ron shrugged. “I haven't really had time to find one. Work's been insane... and I just... I don't want to rush into it. You two showed me how good it can be. I want to take my time and find someone who'll be so slow and nice about how I feel.”  
“If you ever want to come back and stay, you'd be very welcome. For whatever... for whatever that entails,” Severus finished carefully, narrowing his eyes and hoping Ron understood his meaning.  
  
It felt more than bizarre to be sitting in the middle of Diagon Alley offering a threesome to a man half his age. Severus wondered what on earth had possessed him, but then, he knew the answer to that: Ron Weasley. Without knowing it, the boy had woken him, given him a new lease of romantic life which Severus had never really considered before. He had never been as at ease in expressing his devotion to Remus than he currently was.  
  
They had never been happier.  
  
“I never thought what happened would happen,” Ron said quietly. “And I really hope that you two don't feel that that was why I came... to trick you into... teaching me, I suppose.”  
“Absolutely not.”  
“But, I'm really grateful that you did.” Ron laughed and flicked the receipt into the air and then caught it again. “Look... Mum's having a get together this weekend. Charlie's graced us with his presence for a weekend and Luna and all the others are coming. She's going to invite you. I think you should come. You two have hidden away for long enough.”  
“Would you feel comfortable with us there?”  
“Only if you'd feel comfortable being there in the first place,” Ron countered.  
  
They stared at one another. Severus didn't understand the churning feeling in his stomach.  
  
“You've put me on the right road to not being ashamed of what I am.” Ron paused while the waitress brought their drinks over. “And I think that you need to do the same and be out with Remus in public.”  
“I'm not ashamed, Ron... I've just always been very private. Man or woman, I would not parade the affairs of my heart out for all to see. I learnt my lesson on that very young, as you well know.”  
“Well, maybe it's time to get over the embarrassment, eh?” Ron suggested, and sipped at his hot chocolate.  
  
Severus drank from his own mug and thought about it. Once again, the redhead had managed to strip his emotions bare without much effort.  
  
“Remus and I will be there,” he said, without further hesitation.  
  


* * *

  
  
“Ron, have you met my cousin before?” Seamus asked, his Irish lilt loudened by the three pints of home made cider he'd already consumed. “He's tagging along wit' me because he's lonely and visitin' and I didn't trust the fecker around me Firebolt II.”  
  
Ron looked up at Seamus and felt his mouth go dry. Next to him was the most beautiful man he had ever seen, with Seamus' sandy hair but with hazel coloured eyes, and the most delicious looking mouth known to man.  
  
His heart began to thrum a steady beat in his chest. He glanced over to where Remus was chatting to Bill, leaving Severus sitting alone with Fleur and one of the babies. Severus caught his eye and sent him a private smile.  
  
“No. I haven't. Hi...?”  
“Domhnall.”  
“Good to meet you.” Ron smiled. “Can I get you another drink?”  
  
 _-fin-_


End file.
